Shipping package



Dec. 15, 1953 w. GILL ETAL SHIPPING PACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July27, 1951 wwwmwwww wwwwwmmw Q Q Filed July 27, 1951 Dec. 15, 1953 w. L EAL SHIPPING PACKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C L v 2/! v I Patented Dec. 15,1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OF Fl-CE SHIPPING PACKAGE Willie Gill,Montreal, Quebec, Eanada, and .Samucl S. Nicholson, River zEdgaN. Jassign- .ors toAmerican Can- Company New.ork, N.lY.,

a corporationofNew Jersey Application July'27, 1951, Serial 160;238:908

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to a shipping package and the method ofbuildingup the same and has particular reference to -'a relatively largeand heavy shipping unit built up from a plurality of stacked smallerarticles or packagesarranged in layers ortiers and tied together by asingle or substantially continuous binding element interwoven betweenthe layers 'of th articles and the articles themselves.

An object of the invention is the provision of a package and method ofproducing the same wherein a large number of smaller articles'may bebuilt up in stacked relation to produce a strong and. stable unitarypackage which may be readily handled for unit loading into trucks orrailroad cars or for eflicient and compact storage.

Another object ls'the provision of such a shipping package and method ofproducing the same wherein the built up shipping packages are stableenough to stack one on top of the other to a considerable height andvolume, even though'the articles in themselves are of'considerableweight.

Another object is the provision ofsuch 'a package and method ofproducing the same wherein the various articles in the package are held:in place Vertically stacked and preferably in staggered relation by arelatively inexpensive, substantially continuous binding element which:is interwoven between the articles in such a manner as to lock the endsof the binding element in place as well as to tie the articles togetherin a unitary structure.

Another object is the provision of sucha package and method ofproducingthe same wherein the package maybe assembled in a rapid 'i'andeconomical manner with a comparatively inexpensive binder .element whichmay be discarded after use, with the result that Egreat savings inmaterial and time are obtained.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a packageproduced by the steps of theinstant method invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlargedschematic -side elevation of the package shown inFighl, the view-showing how the binder element is interwoven between thearticles in the package;

Fig-3 is an enlarged view of 1affragmental DOP- tion .of the packageshown in Fig. .1, the @view showing how the binder element hOIdSwthBouter 7 overhangingsorprojecting articles in place in the package; and

'Figs. 54110210 inclusive :are schematic side .elevations showing the1preferred method steps of producingrthep'ackage shown in Fig. 1.

As a preferred or exemplary embodiment of the invention, Figs. 1, 2 and3 of the drawings illustrate a unitary package .A built up of aplurality-of :smaller packagesor articles B held together inapredetermined arrangement preferably-by .a single binder or tie elementC which isinterwoven Jor snaked betweenthe articles. In the instantcase, the articles B are cylindrical in shape and-comprise fibre tubecontaining metal can ends packaged for "shipment to customers plants orfor storage until required, although the inventionvisequally'welbadapted to other articles which may be readily stacked-oneupon another in rows-or layers or tiers. The package A preferably isbuilt .up on agpallet, skid or other support D foreasy handling.

The binder element C preferably is a single continuous flexible elementwhich preferably is a relatively wide :strip of strong paper or othertough fibrous material, although the invention is equally well adapted.to 'the-useofnarrow webs, or wire-form binder elements made .from othermaterials such as.-non-fibrous substances, metals, plastics; etc.

In such .a package the ibinder element C may form'the foundation oripartof the foundation of the package and may'cxtend under the'first orlowermost .row .of-articles B as best shown in Fig. 2, .the leading:endaof the binder or tie element being looped OVel.'iO1'l8-:01 more ofthearticles at one end oftherow (at'the-left as viewed in Fig. 2)andtucked under-one or'more of the adjacent intermediate-articlesin therow to-lock or securely hold this .endrof the binder element in place.At the opposite end '(the'rightas viewed in Fig. 2) of the first row of:articles, the binder. element extends up around the endarticle andbacktoward the left betweenrthe first andsecond rows, thence uparoundthetend .articlezat the left in the second .row=and extendingtoward the right between the second .-and'third.rows and-s0 on along arising sinuous tpath .of travel extending between each twoadjacentstaggeredrowsof articles until it reaches-the top rower-the stack. Atthis top row-the binder :elementextends over the top of one or moreeofthe articles at the left end of thestaok'as yiewed in Fig. -2, thenalongtoward the right opposite end of the .stack, back .over one or more ofthe .articles :at this opposite end '(attherightim :E'lg. 12') Of thestack, and terminating under a. plurality of the intermediate articlesin this top row between the surrounded articles at the ends of thestack, as best shown in Fig. 2. This tucking of the terminal end of thebinder element C under several of the intermediate articles in the toprow, anchors this end of the binder element and thus holds the elementinplace.

The binder element C thus interwoven between adjacent rows of thearticles B in the stack compactly holds the articles together in astable, rigid, unitary package or structure, which it has been found,can withstand severe shock and rough handling without damage. The entirepackage may be readily moved and transported on its pallet or skid D andseveral such packages may be piled one on top of the other to economizein space during transportation or storage.

The method of producing such a package is schematically illustrated inFigs. 4 to inclusive. In forming such a package, the leading end of thebinder or tie element C is laid across the skid D as shown in Fig. 4,with a short length marginal free end portion G of the elementoverhanging one edge of the skid. One or more of the articles B,depending upon the number of articles to be assembled in a row or layer,are placed on the skid side-by-side or in contiguous relation across thebinder element adjacent its free end portion G as best shown in Fig. 5.The free end portion G of the binder element is then folded back overthese initially placed articles and pressed down against the remainderof the binder element on the skid as in Fig. 5. The length of this freeend G of the element should be long enough to overlap the skid so thattwo or three articles B can be placed on top of it. With the leading endof the binder element in place, the remainder of the articles tocomplete the first row or layer are laid side-by-side in engagement witheach other on the skid across the binder element, including the free endof the short length G, as shown in Fig. 6. This locks or anchors theleading end of the binder element in place.

As the next step in building up the unitary package, the binder elementC is folded back over the top of the first row or layer of articles B asshown in Fig. '7. A second row of articles B is then laid in place overthe binder element on top of the first layer of articles as shown inFig. 8. Where the articles are cylindrical in shape as shown in thedrawings, the articles inthis second row are preferably in staggeredrelation to the articles in the first row. Hence the articles in thesecond row depress the binder element into the spaces between thearticles in the first row, thus drawing the binder element taut. In thismanner the package is built 'up, by folding the binder element back overthe top of each row of articles as it is laid in place one. precedingrow and hence the binder element is woven back and forth between eachrow of articles and is drawn tight by the articles as they are laid inplace on the element. The end articles at opposite ends of alternaterows or layers of the package are partially surrounded by the binderelement C and project beyond or overlying the end articles in adjacentrows as best shown in Fig. 3 and thus these end articles firmly arelocked in place against displacement from the package.

In placing the top row or layer of articles B in the package, one ormore articles are placed in position on top of the binder element asbest shown in Fig. 9, these articles being at the left end of thepackage as viewed in Fig. 9. The binder element C is then folded overthe tops of these placed articles and beyond the articles the binderelement is laid down against the exposed portion of the binder elementextending across the articles in the next to the top row therebyproviding a double thickness of the binder element as shown in Fig. 9.With the binder element in this position, one or more articles areplaced in position across the double thickness binder element at theright end of the package as shown in Fig. 10. Following this, theterminal end of the binder element is folded up over these newly placedarticles at the right of Fig. 10 and laid down in the space intermediatethe articles at both ends of the package, thereby providing betweenthese articles a triple thickness of the binder element as shown in Fig.10. If the binder element is taken from a roll of such material, it iscut off at this point to provide the terminal end of the element. If thebinder element is precut to the required length, the terminal end willautomatically fall in the correct place.

As the concluding step, the intermediate space between the end articlesin the top row is filled with sufficient articles to complete the row,these articles being placed on top of the triple thickness of the binderelement, as best shown in Fig. 2. These lastly placed articles lock theterminal end of the binder element C in place and thus complete thebinding together of all the articles in the package. Thereafter thepackage as a unit may be moved on its skid or pallet for transportationor storage, as desired.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts and that changes may be made in the steps ofthe method described and their order of accomplishment without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of itsmaterial advantages, the form hereinbefore described bemg merely apreferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles, comprising aplurality of articles arranged in rows, in close relation and with aplurality of rows stacked on top of each other, and a substantiallycontinuous flexible binder element extending under the bottom row ofarticles and interwoven between the succeeding rows of the entirepackage to bind the articles together in a stable unitary package, theends of the binder element being interwoven between articles in thebottom and in the top rows of the package and held by the weight ofarticles above them to anchor the ends of the binder element againstdisplacement.

2. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles, comprising asupport, a plurality of articles arranged on said support in rows, inclose relation and with a plurality of rows stacked on top of eachother, and a substantially continuous flexible binder element extendingacross said support under the bottom row of articles and interwovenbetween the succeeding rows of the entire package to bind the articlestogether in a stable unitary package, the free ends of the binderelement being interwoven between articles in the bottom and in the toprows of the package and held by the weight of articles above them toanchor the ends of the binder element against displacement.

3. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles, comprising asupport, a plurality of articles arranged on said support in rows, inclose relation and with a plurality of rows superimposed upon eachother, and a substantially continuous flexible binder element extendingacross said support under the bottom row of articles and around the endarticles in said bottom row and further extending between eachsucceeding and adjacent pair of rows and around the end articles atoppositely disposed ends of alternate rows and around both end articlesof the top row to bind the articles together in a stable unitarypackage, one free end of said binder element terminating in and beinganchored in said bottom row by articles above and resting upon it andthe opposite free end of said binder element terminating in and beinganchored in said top row by articles in said row resting upon it to locksaid element in place.

4. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles, comprising amovable support, a plurality of articles arranged on said support inrows, in close relation and with a plurality of rows superimposed uponeach other, and a substantially continuous flexible binder elementextending across said support under the bottom row of articles andsubstantially horizontally interwoven between the rows of the entirepackage to bind the articles together in a stable unitary package thefree ends of the binder element being interwoven between articles in thebottom and in the top rows of the package to secure the ends of thebinder element against displacement, the leading free end of said binderelement extending under and being held in place by one or more articlesin the bottom row of said package and the terminal free end of saidbinder element extending under and being held in place by one or morearticles in the top row of said package.

5. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles, comprising amovable support, a plurality of cylindrical articles arranged on saidsupport in rows, in close engaging relation and with a plurality of rowssuperimposed upon each other in staggered relation, and a substantiallycontinuous flexible binder element extending under the bottom row ofarticles and interwoven sinuously between the rows of the entire packageand partially surrounding the overhanging end article in each row tosupport all overhanging end articles, to bind adjacent rows together andto bind all of the rows together in a stable unitary package, the lowerand upper free ends of the binder element being interwoven betweenarticles in the bottom and in the top rows of the package, respectively,to secure the ends of the binder element against displacement.

6. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles of substantialweight, comprising a movable support, a plurality of articles arrangedin contiguous relation on said support in uniformly staggered rowssuperposed upon each other with an end article of a superposed rowoverhanging a contiguous end article of a subjacent row and at least onesubstantially continuous flexible binder element snaked through a seriesof superposed rows and wound at least partially around each of saidoverhanging articles, the ends of said binder element being separatedfrom each other, the lead end of said binder element being anchored byat least one article in a lower row of said package and the terminal endof said binder element being anchored by at least one article in a rowhigher than said lower rows of articles, thereby providing a unitarypackage of articles tightly bound together for shipment and storage.

7. A unitary package for shipping and storing articles of substantialweight, comprising a plurality of articles arranged in contiguousrelation in uniformly staggered rows superposed upon each other with anend article of a superposed row overhanging a contiguous end article ofa subjacent row and at least one substantially continuous flexiblebinder element snaked through a series of superposed rows and wound atleast partially around each of said overhanging articles, the ends ofsaid binder element being separated from each other, the lead end ofsaid binder element being anchored by at least one article in a lowerrow of said package and the terminal end of said binder element beinganchored by at least one article in a row higher than said lower rows ofarticles, thereby providing a unitary package of articles tightly boundtogether for shipment and storage.

WILLIE GILL. SAMUEL S. NICHOLSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,921,228 I-Ietherington Aug. 8, 1933 2,059,390 Pagel Nov. 3,1936 2,284,616 Hedges May 26, 1942 2,300,059 Perry Oct. 27, 19422,635,965 Hensgen et al Apr. 21, 1953

